The deployment of relatively small probes or sensors for performing tasks in confined, inaccessible, or remote spaces is useful in several contexts. For example, it is known in the arts to use wireless capsules for collecting images by equipping them with cameras, or for delivering doses of medication to general areas of the digestive system by equipping them with drug reservoirs. The currently available wireless capsules used in the medical field are carried by peristalsis through the digestive tract. In non-medical applications, a probe capsule may be carried by fluid flow and/or gravity through a system of piping or tubing. Such approaches utilize movement inherent in the environment being investigated, and the movement and orientation of the probes is left to chance to some extent. The challenges of providing controllable orientation and movement functions for remote probe technology are significant. Attempts to provide movement capabilities to remote probes have been made using mechanical drive systems. However, such systems require a significant amount of power, which is difficult to provide within the space available.
Due to the foregoing and possibly additional problems, improved apparatus, systems and methods for orientation and movement of remote objects would be useful contributions to the arts.